Index relies entirely on the support of donors and readers to do its work.
Help us keep amplifying censored voices today.
Natalie Haynes gets to grips with the rules and regulations policing the brand of the London Games
(more…)
A court in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, has blocked [Ru] popular blogging platform LiveJournal after one page was accused of publishing “extremist” material. The ban, which will affect an estimated 60,000 Livejournal account holders in the region, and their readers, has been opposed by internet service providers and Roskomnadzor, the federal telecommunications regulator.
Russian parliamentarians have passed legislation that will establish a central register of banned websites. The new laws are ostensibly designed for child protection, but Andrei Soldatov says the real aim is to take control over the country’s burgeoning social networks
(more…)
Russia’s Wikipedia and LiveJournal blacked out today to protest a draft law that would allow websites that promote drugs, suicide or contain contain porn or “extremist” materials to be blacklisted without judicial oversight. Activists fear the powers will be abused for political purposes.
Index on Censorship CEO Kirsty Hughes said today:
The Bill currently passing through the Duma is aimed squarely at clamping down on online dissent. The law will force ISPs to install filters at huge cost to prevent access to websites that the Communications Regulator deems “extremist”, with no judicial oversight. With Compromat.ru, a site exposing regime corruption targeted by the Moscow prosecutor last week, it’s clear that in Putin’s Russia freedom of expression is in decline.